


Star Wars, Episode X: Shadows of the Abyss

by idrilsdarkwritings (idrilhadhafang)



Series: The Abyss Trilogy [1]
Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Angst Train, F/M, Grief/Mourning, Not quite a fix-it, Post-Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, Rey Needs A Hug, Rey Palpatine, Rey Skywalker
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-10
Updated: 2020-02-10
Packaged: 2021-02-27 18:40:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,763
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22650400
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/idrilhadhafang/pseuds/idrilsdarkwritings
Summary: After the defeat of Emperor Palpatine, Rey and the rest of the Resistance should have been able to proceed with a peaceful life. But Palpatine’s forces on Exegol are still regrouping, ready to avenge their fallen Emperor, and the Chancellor of the New Republic may yet go from the Resistance’s greatest ally to their greatest enemy.
Relationships: Finn/Rey (Star Wars)
Series: The Abyss Trilogy [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1629352
Comments: 3
Kudos: 10





	1. Return From Exile

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I own nothing. 
> 
> Author’s Notes: Call this an idea that got away from me. Also, title of this fic based somewhat on Nietzsche’s “he who fights monsters” quote. You know the one.

Tatooine should have been her exile. She supposed she should have gotten used to it — if not for Poe calling her back. She supposed she had been there for too long anyway — there was something about how dusty and abandoned-seeming Tatooine was that made Rey wonder, already, if she was staying here way too long. 

She had decided to come back. She’d paid her respects to Luke and Leia both, after all. She’d done enough. She had an identity of her own, a last name — Rey Skywalker. More fitting than associating herself with the beast that had been her grandfather. 

Yes, she thought. She could do that. Come back. Put the Republic back together. It would have been what Leia would have wanted. What Ben would have wanted as well. 

Yes. She could do that. 

***

Heading back to the Resistance base from Tatooine wasn’t what Rey would call easy. Even sitting in the cockpit, looking out at the blue, swirling vortex of hyperspace, she couldn’t help but think back to Exegol. That moment, when she had been in the netherworld of the Force, and she had seen her parents again for the first time since she was five years old. That moment, when she had spoken to her mother, and her father, and gotten closure on the matter of them having to leave her behind. 

She could remember her father’s anger at what Plutt had done to her. The vindication that she’d felt, because besides Finn (were there others? She didn’t know), who else had asked if she was okay, cared about how she felt, what she had gone through? Who else had cared?

And then Ben —

Rey paused in that moment. There was a moment, just a moment, where she felt like she couldn’t breathe. Like her chest was being squeezed in a vise. She didn’t love him romantically, and how could she? He was, according to the research she did, her first cousin. She had taken on the name Rey Skywalker for a reason, and not just to distance herself from her monstrous grandfather. (In a way, Anakin Skywalker himself could be considered a Palpatine)

BB-8 wheeled over towards her in that moment, dwooing softly, butting against her leg. Rey smiled down at him, if feebly. There was something about BB-8’s presence in that moment that was comforting, even though she was once more blaming herself. All for the idea that Ben had died and she had lived. 

”Thank you,” she said softly, petting BB-8’s dome. “I needed that.”

Another _dwoo_ from BB-8. 

”It’s just...painful, that’s all.” Rey looked out at the swirling blue vortex of hyperspace in that moment. She didn’t know what her line of logic was. If she was staring out the window just to keep herself from crying...

”He was the last family I had. BB-8...he was my last family member, and I wanted him to redeem himself, but not to die. Not for me.” Even Poe’s attempts to comfort her, to say that Ben had chosen what he did...even those things had been comforting, kind, but it was like the rest of her brain, the brain that was still dealing with being technically the last Skywalker, couldn’t catch up. “I didn’t want anyone else dying on my watch. Not Han. Not Luke. Not Leia. Not Ben.” A strained laugh. “My grandfather wiped out most of my family, and for what? Petty revenge? Like even beyond the grave, he could find a way to hurt me?”

Her voice was rising, and she caught it in time. She sighed. “I’m sorry, BB-8. I shouldn’t have gotten so...angry...”

When was the last time she’d fully gotten angry? She’d been so used to suppressing it. To dealing with Plutt’s poor treatment and saying nothing. 

“It’s hard,” she finally said. “Too hard.”

BB-8 rested against her thigh, and Rey could take comfort in that. In the orange-and-white BB unit, and how he just knew, in that moment, that one of his humans was sad, and he’d do the best he could. 

Rey didn’t know what to do next, when she got back to the Resistance base. She only knew that whatever it took, she’d be ready. 


	2. Naira

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey comes back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Finn was the first to meet her when Rey landed and disembarked with BB-8. Running towards her, hugging her — and somehow, even as Finn hugged her, Rey felt a sort of safety that she doubted she had felt in some time. 

Their hug lasted long enough for Rey to feel almost fluttery when she withdrew from Finn’s arms. She beamed at him; there had been something about simply being close to him that had been stabilizing, comforting, like when they had first been on the _Falcon_. Like when they had reunited on Crait. Like when she had first made that decision to head out to Pasaana and Finn had reassured her, in his way, that he was with her until the end. She had almost chosen Ben because she had felt a kinship with him — they were both lonely, in their ways. But even if he wasn’t her first cousin...he simply wasn’t the same. Finn was simply Finn, and Rey wouldn’t have him any other way. 

Rey drew away, suddenly feeling nervous. Not the bad nervous. Just nervous. 

”You okay?” Finn said. 

”Yeah.” It felt, almost, like they were picking up where they left off. Almost. 

There was a woman watching them — a woman who looked not that much older than Rey, her jet-black hair tied back into a neat bun. She was beautiful, Rey thought, but seemed sad — even feeling her in the Force, Rey could feel a whole swell of pain in her presence. An ocean of it that Rey feared she would drown in. 

”Oh,” Finn said. “That’s our new Chancellor. Well, Chancellor’s candidate. Naira Onasi.”

”Onasi?” Rey said. “You’re...related to Carth Onasi? The Republic Admiral?”

Naira smiled faintly. “You could say that.” Her voice was pleasant to listen to, lowish but not too low. “My family dates back to Telos. Though my parents moved to Hosnia Prime before...before the cataclysm.”

That explained a lot. Rey swallowed. “I’m sorry,” she said. 

”No need,” Naira said. “I’m here to rebuild the Republic. Not the other way around.” She paused. “And you’re Rey, aren’t you? I don’t think there’s anyone in the galaxy who doesn’t know your name.”

Rey smiled, if faintly. “I had help,” she said. “Leia. Finn...”

”And you’re humble. Also a good trait.” Naira said. Even looking at her, Rey couldn’t help but feel, oddly, like she wasn’t so different from Leia. The mother she never had. “The galaxy wouldn’t have been saved if not for you...or General Dameron, or General Finn.” A beat. “Do you have a last name?”

Finn shook his head. “It’s just Finn.”

”I see.” Naira sighed. “I haven’t been properly sworn in. There aren’t many candidates; I know General Dameron turned the position down.”

Poe shrugged. “I think my political days are long behind me,” he said. He said it lightly, but Rey thought she could detect a hint of sorrow behind it. “Besides,” he added, “I’d be bad at it. I don’t think I’d have patience for bickering Senators.”

”As a former Senator myself, I quite agree, General,” Naira said. 

Poe raised an eyebrow. “A Senator who knows how bad it is? I could learn to like you.”

Naira didn’t laugh, but Rey thought she saw her lips twitch a bit. “I did hear rumors you were a bit of trouble, General,” she said. “That’s good, though. We need innovators. The last thing the Republic needs is being stagnant. It was its downfall last time. And times before it.”

”We’ll do our best,” Poe said. 

A nod from Naira. “I have no doubt you will.”

***

Rey and Finn could leave, at least. Finn turned towards Rey in that moment, and despite herself, Rey couldn’t help but think of the times she had looked like she took Finn for granted. When she had Force pushed him away from the duel she was having with Kylo on Kef Bir. She had intended to protect him. That was how she justified it. She’d remembered how Finn had been so badly injured in his last duel with Kylo — how Kylo had burned him. She’d remembered, and so she’d tried to protect him. 

Now, she was wondering if another part of it was also due to her wavering on the edge of the Dark Side. If she had been wavering there to the point that if she hadn’t felt Leia’s death right then and there —

Rey shuddered to think of what would have happened. If she had killed Kylo on Kef Bir. If that wound had been fatal. 

”She’s interesting, isn’t she?” Finn said. “Naira Onasi. I think we definitely need someone, just to put the Republic back together.”

”We do. It’s what Leia would have wanted.”

”Yeah.” Finn turned to Rey. “Rey...there were actually two things I wanted to tell you. No, just one. I guess the second one doesn’t really matter.”

Rey swallowed. He just sounded so sad, so resigned. “Finn,” she said, “What’s the first one, at least?”

”I’m Force Sensitive. It does explain a lot, doesn’t it?” Finn smiled bitterly. “How I was able to wield that lightsaber, even for a short period of time.” A beat. “I still wish I hadn’t failed to protect you...”

”Don’t say that, Finn. You were incredibly brave.”

”Still.” A beat. “You could have let me help you, you know. On Kef Bir.”

Rey swallowed. “I couldn’t let you get injured or killed.”

”That was it? Rey — I swore to look out for you ever since we left Jakku in the first place. You were, and are, my second friend. Only reason you’re not first is because...Poe.”

Rey nodded. Somehow, she had a feeling that Finn was about to say something more than ‘friend'. 

”I failed you, Rey. I don’t know if I could live with myself after that.”

”You didn’t fail.” Rey said. “You can trust me on that.”

Her hand brushed over Finn’s shoulder. It was interesting, how she was getting acclimated to other people’s touches. Even something as simple as holding someone’s hand, or brushing a shoulder. It made sense, somehow. Too much sense. 

”Finn,” she said, “I could help you. For lack of a better word, you need a teacher. I don’t know how many others do as well.”

Finn nodded. “We have a Jedi Order to rebuild too,” he said. “We should get to it.”


End file.
